Hungary

traces its history back to the Magyars, an alliance of semi-nomadic tribes from southern Russia and the Black Sea coast that arrived in the region in the ninth century.

After centuries as a powerful medieval kingdom, was part of the Ottoman and then Habsburg empires from the 16th century onwards, emerging as an independent country again after World War I.
The Hungarian language belongs to the Finno-Ugric family and is one of the handful of languages spoken within the European Union that are not of Indo-European origin.

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A landlocked country, is home to Lake Balaton, the largest in central Europe, and to a large number of spa towns and hot springs.

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It has especially rich traditions in folk and classical music and was the birthplace of numerous outstanding performers and composers, including Franz Liszt, Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly.

became a partner in the Austro-Hungarian empire in the mid-19th century. After a period of turmoil following World War I, an independent kingdom of was established.

The redrawing of European borders that took place after World War I left about five million ethnic Hungarians living in neighbouring countries. Their status remains a sensitive issue and has complicated 's relations with its neighbours.

Following World War II, the country found itself under communist rule. An uprising against Soviet domination in 1956 was crushed by Red Army forces but did later become the first Eastern European country to gain some economic freedom. It embraced aspects of the free market while still under communist rule and in 1968 the authorities allowed limited decentralisation of the economy.